Moth - Ultralight Ion Lander/Dropship

[Cupcake...]

CRAFT FILE:

http://goo.gl/meJYbY

Hello all,

It's my great pleasure to present the moth, an all new dropship that puts the fun back into... er... Ion engines.

Designed to operate on low gravity worlds such as Minmus, Ike, Gilly, Pol and Bop the Moth weighs in at only 3t while still putting out an impressive 6000m/s of Delta V. It's so light in fact two of them can be lifted into orbit using a single turbo jet.

Full sub-assembly compatibility will let you take a whole fleet of Moths to explore the Kerbol system.

CONTROLS:

1 - Toggle Ion Engines

2 - Toggle Main Solar Panels

3 - Toggle Secondary Panels

0 - Toggle Turbo Jet (JLV Model Only)

ABORT - Undock/De-Couple All Ports

OWNERS MANUAL:

A joystick with a twist yaw is highly recommended and SAS should be left on at all times. Like all my craft the Moth features a horizontal axis pit for suborbital flying and a vertical axis docking port for orbital piloting and navigation. The top docking port operates in line with the engines and must be used when performing burns with the navbal. You can also use the top docking port if you'd rather fly the Moth like a regular rocket or are using Mechjeb.

The name of the game with this craft is to manage your electricity levels. Keep the main solar panels deployed where possible, the secondary solar panels can also be deployed more or less permanently. The Moth features a generous amount of electricity storage that will let you keep the engines burning for a while in darkness.

The reserve will also let you fold in the main panels for landing long before touchdown. The large solar panels were perhaps not designed to be used as skids so keep your landings as smooth and as slow as you can. If you do break the main panels you'll still have enough power to get home you'll just have to cut the engines now and again to recharge.

By grabbing the top docking port the whole craft can be saved as a sub-assembly. The secondary mounting point will also let you stack Moths one on top of the other for easy transport.

There are three models currently in the archive the standard version, R (RCS) edition and Jet Launch Veihicle (JLV). The RCS Edition doesn't have the same range as the standard version but still puts out a generous 5000m/s of Delta V.

Right hope that's everything, if you have any Qs feel free to ask.

Cupcake...

Edited April 25, 2015 by Cupcake...

[Guest]

Downloaded purely because of the awesome music in the video! Wait, where's the download?

[Cupcake...]

Downloaded purely because of the awesome music in the video! Wait, where's the download?

I moved it to the top of the page, hope you enjoy the ship.

Cupcake...

[Justin Kerbice]

Oh my Jeb ! Cupcake move a step forward in technology Looks very good, as usual !

By the way, I guess it's for 0.23.5 with modified/upgraded ION drive engine, right ?

[Cupcake...]

Oh my Jeb ! Cupcake move a step forward in technology Looks very good, as usual !

By the way, I guess it's for 0.23.5 with modified/upgraded ION drive engine, right ?

Yeah that's right, the .23 Ions can barely keep a cup of coffee warm.

Cupcake...

[BigD145]

That bonus video. Hah!

I really wish my twist yaw worked properly on my joystick. It has too much free travel one direction with almost no effort. Even with a dead zone it's pretty bad.

[Cupcake...]

That bonus video. Hah!

I really wish my twist yaw worked properly on my joystick. It has too much free travel one direction with almost no effort. Even with a dead zone it's pretty bad.

I'm starting to have trouble with my one too. Starting to think the build quality on my Logitech stick may not be as good as it should be be.

Cupcake...

[Ghostshark27]

Excellent as always! These are so cool looking, and look like a blast to fly! I may have my techs tinker with the engines a bit and see what can happen with some of the Near Future propulsion options. I'm looking forward to playing around with this design and may use it as inspiration for a lifter drone for my mining operations.

[Cupcake...]

Excellent as always! These are so cool looking, and look like a blast to fly! I may have my techs tinker with the engines a bit and see what can happen with some of the Near Future propulsion options. I'm looking forward to playing around with this design and may use it as inspiration for a lifter drone for my mining operations.

They're good fun alright! I'd love to see some pics if you do manage to supercharge the engines.

Cupcake...

[Darthzeus]

Uh... am I cracking up or is the download just an empty folder...?

ok, fixed!

Edited July 7, 2014 by Darthzeus

[Castille7]

As I said before! if it says Cupcake you can bet it will be really cool!!!! Love it!

[BigD145]

I'm starting to have trouble with my one too. Starting to think the build quality on my Logitech stick may not be as good as it should be be.

Cupcake...

I have a Logitech as well. I may move yaw to the hat switches.

[Darthzeus]

Well, I dunno anything about near future, but I scraped together a part pack real quick to make atmospheric Ion Propulsion a feasible option.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B5xy4Jmq1jp_S0JCampWcUE0dG8/edit?usp=sharing

Sorry to anyone who downloaded before now, had a minor bug had to fix. Should be better now!

...yet another bug fix... make sure you're up to date

Last update, I swear! <--- Ima just leave that here so everyone believes it...

Edited July 7, 2014 by Darthzeus

[Cupcake...]

Well, I dunno anything about near future, but I scraped together a part pack real quick to make atmospheric Ion Propulsion a feasible option.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B5xy4Jmq1jp_S0JCampWcUE0dG8/edit?usp=sharing

Sorry to anyone who downloaded before now, had a minor bug had to fix. Should be better now!

...yet another bug fix... make sure you're up to date

Last update, I swear! <--- Ima just leave that here so everyone believes it...

Thanks for putting that up! I'd feed you some more rep if I only could...

Cupcake...

[Cranium]

UPDATE: 8/7/2013 - Accidentalley left a Mechjeb case on the JLV model, the download is now fixed.

Are you posting this from your time machine?

[Cupcake...]

Are you posting this from your time machine?

If I said yes would you believe me? (Thanks for that, the date is now fixed.)

Cupcake...

[Ringkeeper]

nice ship(s) . And easy to fly, even a Apo of 100km is possible at 35km.

[Cupcake...]

nice ship(s) . And easy to fly, even a Apo of 100km is possible at 35km.

That's great to hear, hope you have some nice adventures with them. I must say I'm kind of looking forward to the new RCS engines in .24, should open up some interesting possibilities for ultra light craft.

Cupcake...

[DMSP]

Alright, downloading!

I feel like setting up a base on Pol.

I'll use this if I may!

- - - Updated - - -

Darnit, so sorry, didn't mean to Necro...

[Cupcake...]

Alright, downloading!

I feel like setting up a base on Pol.

I'll use this if I may!

- - - Updated - - -

Darnit, so sorry, didn't mean to Necro...

Funnily enough it's still getting downloads. We'll have to throw a 1st birthday party soon. Be cool to see some pics of your Pol base once it's up and running.

Cupcake...

[Guest]

This is such a cute little dropship, I love it. too bad it can't lift itself on Kerbin tho but thats inherent to current day Ions engines so no big deal.

[Cupcake...]

This is such a cute little dropship, I love it. too bad it can't lift itself on Kerbin tho but thats inherent to current day Ions engines so no big deal.

Thanks man! I think unless you have a wings an ion powered dropship lifting off from Kerbin is out of the question!

Cupcake...

[DMSP]

Ok, main colony module is built and in orbit. Science Lab is there as well. I'll dock them soon. The nuclear tug is almost done. I'll launch the "Squatty Base" (Brototo's Developing Duna) soon. Fuel depot is not done yet. I'll bring one of my light CTVs, some probes and KAS/KIS equipment.

Your dropships will be the last to the package, and there will be two!

I might also bring a Tadpole and a orbital fuel module.

Peace out guys